Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

Rationale: Heart Failure (HF) elevated prevalence in Brasil and the world; 20-30% AHF patients develop CardioRenal Syndrome (CRS) type 1; Worsening Renal Failure (WRF) is a prognostic marker of mortality in Acute HF;NGAL is a novel biomarker of Acute Kidney Injury released in 2 hours, and addressed in several different clinical scenarios(contrast injury, cardiopulmonary bypass, critical illness. Hypothesis: Admission NGAL predicts CRS in AHF patients admitted to the Emergency Room (ER). Primary goal: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and the best cutoff value of urinary NGAL to predict the development of CRS type 1 in patients admitted to the Emergency Room. Secondary goals: 1- To evaluate the prognostic impact of NGAL on in-hospital adverse outcomes (length of hospitalization, death, institution of renal replacement therapy, use of vasoactive drugs, mechanical ventilation).2- Evaluate the prognostic impact of NGAL in adverse outcomes in 30 days, 60 days and 6 months (death, rehospitalization, institution of renal replacement therapy).3- Identify clinical and hemodynamic characteristics of Acute HF that can influence the evolutionary behavior of NGAL levels in 48 hours.4- Identify the association of drugs commonly used for HF management, which might influence the evolutionary behavior of NGAL levels in 48 hours.5-Assess the impact of NGAL results in clinical decision making. Methods: Observational, prospective, blinded study. Population: Acute HF patients admitted to the ER of Hospital Pró Cardiaco and Hospital Antonio Pedro - Universidade Federal Fluminense. Statistics: Convenience Sample size (n=180); determination of best cut-off: ROC analysis; Predictive performance of the cut-off: sensibility, specificity, likelihood ratio, predictive value, accuracy; Identification of variables to predict CRS: logistic regression and square-Qui test; Correlations analysis of normally distributed variables: Pearson's linear correlation test; Mean values for normally distributed variables: Mann-Wittney test; Significance on p<0,05; Intra-assay variation analysis. Study chronogram: Recruitment: 12 months; Results analysis and conclusions: 60 days; Manuscript preparation for paper submission: 30 days.

Slow continuous ultrafiltration using central vs peripheral line: feasibility of implementation, safety and efficacy in acute heart failure syndromes.

Patients being hospitalized for acute heart failure and already receiving standard therapy will be randomized to receive either tolvaptan or placebo, based on the level of copeptin measured in their bloodstream. Patients with high copeptin levels will be able to participate in the trial, patients with low levels will be excluded. Patients being admitted to the observation unit for acute heart failure and already receiving standard therapy will be randomized to receive either tolvaptan or placebo without consideration of the copeptin level. The hypothesis is that patients receiving tolvaptan will have better improvement of shortness of breath than those receiving placebo, within 9 hours of drug administration.

This is a placebo-controlled study to determine the effect of CLP in heart failure subjects with fluid overload.

The investigators hypothesized that udenafil, a newly developed phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, would improve symptom, exercise capacity and hemodynamic status in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

According to the most recent information released by the American Heart Association, heart failure affects 5.8 million Americans and over 23 million people worldwide. In particular, diastolic heart failure (DHF) has emerged in approximately half of those suffering from heart disease and has become a major public health problem for many reasons, including the complexity of the disease, lack of effective drugs/therapies, requirement of invasive tests to diagnose and monitor DHF, and the absence of a suitable scientific model to study the disease. Scientists and physicians alike still do not fully understand what happens to the muscles in the heart (myocardium) patients who present with diastolic dysfunction or DHF. Therefore, the medical field is in need of an accurate model that can evaluate how diastolic dysfunction leads to heart failure and what happens at a cellular level as this disease emerges and progresses.

The study is aiming to document the long-term safety and effectiveness of renal denervation in patients with hypertension and other diseases characterized by elevated sympathetic drive. Catheter-based renal denervation will be performed using CE marked, percutaneous, systems.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and the short-term effects of an early-start aerobic exercise training program on functional capacity, symptoms and neurohormonal activation in chronic heart failure patients with recent acute hemodynamic decompensation.

Investigators will test a new approach to a form of heart failure (HF) with no current treatment proven to reduce death rates or hospitalisations. Over a third of HF cases have preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) often on a background of high blood pressure (BP). These "stiff" hearts pump strongly but fill inefficiently resulting in poor exercise capacity and high death rates. Treatments that help when heart pumping action is poor are of no benefit in HFPEF. Recently a simple catheter procedure removing excess nerve signals to and from the kidneys ("renal denervation"; RDN) has been able to reduce BP in patients with high BP resistant to multi-drug treatment. Through removing excess nervous drive to the kidneys, heart and circulation this treatment has promise in HF. The investigators will compare effects of RDN and standard medical treatment on heart function, exercise capacity and quality of life in 144 patients with HFPEF

Robotic assisted gait therapy with the Lokomat® as a new method for rehabilitation in advanced heart failure and after cardiac surgery.